There are a few ways to determine when the version of Windows you are currently using was installed on the computer. Below is a list of each of the ways.

Finding Windows install date using systeminfo

Users who are running Microsoft Windows XP Professional, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, or Windows 10 can use the systeminfo command to show when Windows was installed on the computer. To run and use the systeminfo command, follow these steps.

  • Finding Windows install date using systeminfo.

  • Finding Windows install date in the registry.

  • Open the Windows command line.

  • From the command line, type the following command to show only the original install date. If you are using a non-English version of Windows, this command may not work, and you may want to use one of the other options.

systeminfo|find /i “original”

If done properly systeminfo should return output similar to the example shown.

If you’ve upgraded to a newer version of Windows (e.g., upgraded Windows 8 to Windows 10) the original install date shown is the date of the upgrade.

Original Install Date: 12/17/2015, 7:09:50 PM

or

  • Open the Windows command line.
  • From the command line, type systeminfo and press Enter to see output similar to the following example. The “Original Install Date” is when Windows was installed on the computer.

Host Name: COMPUTERHOPEOS Name: Microsoft Windows 10 ProOS Version: 10.0.10586 N/A Build 10586OS Manufacturer: Microsoft CorporationOS Configuration: Standalone WorkstationOS Build Type: Multiprocessor FreeRegistered Owner: ComputerhopeRegistered Organization: Computer HopeProduct ID: 00000-00000-00000-AAAAAOriginal Install Date: 12/17/2015, 7:09:50 PMSystem Boot Time: 3/28/2016, 6:57:39 AMSystem Manufacturer: Dell Inc.System Model: XPS 8300System Type: x64-based PCProcessor(s): 1 Processor(s) Installed. [01]: Intel64 Family 6 Model 42 Stepping 7 Genuine Intel ~3401 MhzBIOS Version: Dell Inc. A06, 10/17/2011Windows Directory: C:\WINDOWSSystem Directory: C:\WINDOWS\system32Boot Device: \Device\HarddiskVolume1System Locale: en-us;English (United States)Input Locale: en-us;English (United States)Time Zone: (UTC-07:00) Mountain Time (US & Canada)Total Physical Memory: 8,174 MBAvailable Physical Memory: 2,955 MBVirtual Memory: Max Size: 16,366 MBVirtual Memory: Available: 6,455 MBVirtual Memory: In Use: 9,911 MBPage File Location(s): C:\pagefile.sysDomain: WORKGROUPLogon Server: \MicrosoftAccountHotfix(s): 10 Hotfix(s) Installed. [01]: KB3116900 [02]: KB3124200 [03]: KB3124262 [04]: KB3124263 [05]: KB3135173 [06]: KB3139907 [07]: KB3140741 [08]: KB3140743 [09]: KB3140768 [10]: KB3144756Network Card(s): 2 NIC(s) Installed. [01]: DW1501 Wireless-N WLAN Half-Mini Card Connection Name: Wi-Fi Status: Media disconnected [02]: Broadcom NetLink (TM) Gigabit Ethernet Connection Name: Ethernet DHCP Enabled: Yes DHCP Server: 192.168.1.1 IP address(es) [01]: 192.168.1.52 [02]: fe00::b0b0:0000:0000:0000Hyper-V Requirements: VM Monitor Mode Extensions: Yes Virtualization Enabled In Firmware: Yes Second Level Address Translation: Yes Data Execution Prevention Available: Yes

Finding Windows install date in the registry

The install date is also in the Windows registry for all versions of Windows by following these steps.

  • Open the registry.
  • Browse to the following path.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\

  • Once in the folder above, locate the “InstallDate” key, which contains the hexadecimal and decimal value of the date Windows was installed. Open the “InstallDate” key.
  • Select Decimal to get the decimal value, which is the date in epoch time. Once this value is copied, you need to use an epoch converter to convert that value into a readable date. Below is an example of an epoch and its converted date value.

Epoch value: 1450404590

GMT value: Fri., 18 Dec. 2015 02:09:50 GMT

  • See our systeminfo page for further information on this command.
  • See our epoch and install pages for further information and related links.